Wizards in the Shadow Realm
by Ayakashi
Summary: Nita and Kit fall into the Yugioh universe and have to face all sorts of new and dangerous troubles. Dark and ancient magics are awakening, Nita must duel to save her best friend's life, and of teen romance is in the air. Can they cope? YugiohYW crossover
1. Welcome to Domino

_WIZARDS IN THE SHADOW REALM _

This is a crossover between Young Wizards book series and anime Yugioh that I wrote years ago that I've decided to post.

Pairings: Mainly Seto/Nita and Anzu/Kit. Don't like? Then don't read it! I support Kiit and Nita, but they're not together in this one.

This story is rated "T" for Seto Kaiba's arrogant use of swears. A decent amount of OOCness.

This is what happens when teenage wizards Nita and Kit end up stranded in the Yugioh universe. Shadow Games, romance, dueling, new dangers— and Nita (and Kit) have to deal with all of it.

Hey all the YW people out there, including Dreamer of Dragons and everyone else! This is just the intro chapter, I promise it'll be more interesting (I hope) soon.

_INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Where the heck are we?" Nita Callahan asked, sounding the slightest bit nervous. She looked around; they were suddenly standing firmly on well-trimmed grass, surrounded by odd square-shaped bonsai trees and int he distance she spotted a forest of gleaming skycrapers and tall buildings.

Her partner in wizardry, Kit Rodriguez, frowned at his manual. "Er. . . there seems to be something wrong in the spell. Some outside source must've interfered with it; I'm sure I didn't mess up when I set the locus. . ."

"Then we could be anywhere!" Nita sighed, feeling her trepidation grow. "And I'm exausted! Since our original spell is now messed up, we'll need to create a new one from scratch, and that spell won't return us if we don't know where we're coming from,a nd we're both totally worn out. . ."

Kit nodded. "Yeah, you're right. We're both fresh out of wizardry, anyway. I guess we'll have to stay here for a while. . . wherever here is. . ."

"We're on Earth obviously, and in a large city." Nita said in a low voice. "Let's find a sign or something that'll help direct us."

They walked for about three-and-a-half seconds when Kit pointed to a bright red sign hanging on a building. "Look! It's says _'Welcome to Domino City.'"_

"Domino?" Nita asked. "And where in the universe is_ that?_ Are we even on Earth— or are we in a parallel world?"

"I dunno. . . but it seems like Earth. The gravity, sky color, distance of the sun— but we can't be sure. Let's ask someone." He saw a girl passing by."_Hey you—"_ Kit called.

"Do I know you?" The girl asked, tugging absently at a short strand of shny dark brown hair that was hanging in a fringe around her face and above her neck. Her English was correct thhough strangely accented, as if it wasn't her native language.

Kit blushed, "No, I was just wondering where we are right now. . ."

The girl blinked. "Huh? Oh— you're in Domino City."

"But where in the world is Domino?" Said Nita's irritated voice from behind the girl. _And which world is this world anyway?_

"Domino—" The girl laughed, turning around. "Japan! I see you guys are lost, I can help you to the airport or something if you'd like. . ."

"Japan!" Kit asked, startled. He turned to Nita. "Dammit, how'd we get _here_?"

"Maybe you took the wrong airplane." The girl suggested, and then frowned. "I haven't introduced myself properly, I'm sorry. The name is Anzu Mazaki."

"—Kit Rodriguez."

"Nita Callahan." She didn't skip a moment, "—can you help us find a place to stay or something? A hotel or somewhere? Just offer some good titles, nothing else. We need to— er— regain our strength before we set off again. You know, from air plane and travel sickness. Jet lag."

"Sure." Anzu said in an overly eager voice, reaching out a helpful hand. Kit made a grab for it right as she lifted it to retie the bow sitting under her collar and atop of her large breasts. It must've been some sort of school uniform that she wore. Nita noticed how short the skirt was and wondered if it hadn't been altered to fit that way.

Nita resisted the unusual urge of smacking the girl in the face. This Anzu was already starting to annoy her. . . maybe it was because of the way Kit kept blushing when Anzu spoke.

"I know a couple of nice hotels. One is the just a couple blocks away, and it's pretty cheap. . ."

"Speaking of money . . . uh, Kit?" Nita spoke in a pretend-calm voice. "You have some, right?"

Kit tore his eyes away from Anzu and blinked as if he hadn't been listening to a word she said. "No, but _you_ do, don't you?" He spoke absently, his eyes refusing to look into hers— they were too busy darting back to Anzu.

Nita gaped. "No, when do I _ever_ have real money? The most I carry in my pockets is loose change! _Dangit_, Kit! Now that we can't stay at a hotel now— what are we going to do?"

"You can stay at my place." Anzu said, as if it solved the matter.

"No thanks—"

"Sure!" Kit interrupted. " How convinient. We'd love to— _right_, Neets?"

Nita fumed. "Fine," she spat, and followed them down the block, eager for this to be over with as fast as possible.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They walked into Mazaki's organized apartment and laid their stuff down (which consisted of a large leather fashion purse that Nita had stolen from her sister, because Dairine had never had the nerve to wear it along with her typical over-sized Star Wars t-shirts, and a small beat-up backpack that belonged to Kit. the only items inside were plastic water bottles and items needed for spelling.) The manual, of course, was stored in the hidden claudication pockets.

Anzu walked cheerfully into the room that Nita and Kit were sitting in. They had been discussing how the spell went wrong in subdued voices, but as soon as the girl entered they both shut up immediately.

Anzu sensed the secrecy, but like the girl she was, she would never dare put her nose in others' business. And, in fact, she was quite used to secrets, and knew how dangerous the results of the wrong people overhearing the wrong things could be.

Anzu abruptly said, "I'm going out soon. After I change from my school-clothes. Do you guys want to come or stay and settle down? The apartment gets rather stuffy, but it's not too bad. See— I promised my friends that I'd meet them, and it's rather important, so I can't cancel."

"Oh, it's OK." Nita said in a sarcastic voice. "We're fine here!" _Or we will be, as soon as you leave, _Nita thought savagely. _Or better, when_ we _leave!_

_Heard that._ Came Kit's thought, and he was frowning.

Kit shot a quick glance at Nita before turning to beam at Anzu. "We'll come with you. We're in Japan— let's see new places, Neets!" He elbowed her, and Nita growled though clenched teeth. "If we're not in the way, and if you don't mind having us, of course. . ."

Anzu smiled, perking up at the possibilty of gaining new friends! "Of course you won't be! But I hope you won't be bored. . . You're my guests, and I won't allow that!"

She squealed and sent Kit a charming smile. "So you guys might want to bring something to entertain yourselves if you don't like what we're going to do. . ."

"What _are_ we going to do?" Nita snapped smartly, "I would know if I'm to be bored or not if I knew what we are actually intending to do."

Anzu bit her lip. "I can't tell you. It's a surprise, hard to explain, and I'm in a hurry— Let me change, and then we'll go!"

"We'll wait to find out, then. And we won't get bored, I promise you! We're in Japan, what's boring here, in new countries?"

_Huh?_ Nita thought, feeling hurt again._ He never said that when we on Alaalu or Rirhath B. . . and those are other _worlds,_ not countries! . . .But maybe that's just because there never was situation in which he had to say something of the sort. We were always busy, and on errantry. _

Anzu smiled at Kit's enthusiasm and walked into her room to change.

Kit looked at the closed door.

Nita glared at him.

Kit kept his eyes on the door.

Nita glared at his back.

Kit looked around suddenly to see Nita glaring at him, fuming with anger.

"What's up?" Kit asked innocently.

Nita blanched. "What's _up_?" She spoke through barred teeth. "What? Are you imagining what's up under Anzu's skirt, are you? I'll tell you what— _don't _look at Anzu's door like_ that_ when she's _changing _in there!"

"Why not?"

Nita grabbed the pillow beside her and flung it at him. "PERVERT!"

As soon as Nita's high-pitched accusation left her mouth the door was swung open so hard it banged against the wall and Anzu rushed out, the back of her hair floating loosely and uncombed behind her. "Is everything all right?" She obviously had heard yelling, but not distinguished what the words said had been.

"Yeah." Kit got up, panting slightly, disentangling himself from the pile of pillows he was suddenly buried beneath.

"It's all perfectly fine here— go finish changing in there!" Nita said in a falsely sweet and oily voice.

Anzu continued to look genuinely concerned, ignorant of Nita's caustic tones "I'm done changing, let's go." She brushed her hair thrice through and grabbed her purse, ready to leave.

Kit admired the short black mini-skirt that had recently adorned from afar, as if Anzu were painting or a bouquet. It was much like one Nita had bought one time, but just like that time, he again found himself too timid to comment, even if he honestly liked the skirt very much. Maybe it was indecent; the skirt hardly covered her butt, and perhaps he would seem like a pervert.

Besides, if he said something, Nita would surely bite his head off.

They left the steamy apartment.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Out in the bright sunshine they walked for a while in silence, enjoying the weather and view, when they finally stopped before large building. They went inside without a word from their guide, Anzu, and ended up waiting in the glass elevator.

And wait they did.

"What's up with this?" Kit wondered aloud. "This elevator is pathetically slow. . ." _I could get it go faster._ . .

_Don't_, Nita warned._ We're saving our wizardry, remember?_

Kit scowled at her and glanced at Anzu who spoke upon eye contact.

"Actually, this elevator is rather fast, but the building is so high it seems long— and we're not going to the top floor, but even higher. We're going up to the roof."

At that, Nita was curious. The one time she was on the roof of a building she had gotten thrown into an alternate universe and nearly killed by giant helicopter-bugs— not a memory she wanted to relive.

Anzu changed the subject to a more urgent call. "Do any of you know about a game called Duel Monsters?"

"I think I've heard the name before. . ." Nita squinted, trying to remember. "Oh, I don't know. . ."

Kit shook his head.

"OK, then." Anzu sighed. "Duel Monsters is a trading card game. It's very interesting, and rather difficult to master, because no two rounds or duels are the same. It's very popular here in Japan— I'm surprised that you two haven't heard of it, because when I went to the U.S. everyone played it. . ."

Both Nita and Kit looked blank.

Anzu started to explain the basic rules of the game when the elevator clanged and they stepped out, walked down yet another hall, and found themselves standing outside a giant arena of some sort.

"What's this arena? . . ." Kit eyed it's odd shape. "--For?"

"Dueling." Anzu said simply, "We'll wait over there." She pointed to some other teens waiting on a bench on the other side of the arena.

There was a shaggy-blond haired boy with dark sable eyes that was draped on the bench in a lazy and relaxed position, looking haughty and bad-boyish. He was rather cute, Nita thought, though in a rough way. He wore a dog-tag necklace around his neck, a loose gray t-shirt, and an odd-looking metal disc was glowing softly on his arm.

Next to him was another teen, with brown-black hair that came to a point. He wore a short brown sweater over mismatched green pants and was snickering to the shaggy-haired blond.

The two figures besides them looked stranger then both other boys.

One was wearing a sleeve-less top that had chains hanging from it. It was so short that Nita could see his flat stomach and tanned skin. He looked like he was from somewhere in the middle-east rather than in Japan (well, none of the others actually looked Japanese either, but this one looked the least).

Nita raised her eyes quickly and spotted cool amethyst-colored eyes and almost-white blonde hair. He was lithe and fragile-looking, but quite beautiful. The teen's hair was so pale, it looked albino.

But the boy next to him _was_ albino. Or at least it looked that way very much because of such a pale complexion. This boy had wide, nervous honey-brown eyes that caught every movement and flickered over everything before him, and rather spiky white hair. He was also good-looking, perhaps even cute, despite his exotic features, which weren't really that strange when compared to some aliens that the two wizards had met.

The pack of boys looked up and saw the newcomers.

"Hey, Anzu." The shaggy-haired blonde acknowledged her in Japanese and waved. "Who are they?"

There wasn't much said, but Nita and Kit, being wizards, understood it anyway. But they couldn't let Anzu know that they understood a language that they'd probably never heard before. Both teens looked blank.

"This is Kit, and Nita." She said in English.

"Hello, I'm Ryou Bakura." The white-haired boy said, extending a hand. His english was precise and sharp.

Kit shook his hand and the two wizards were addressed to the boys.

The other slipped into English too and soon they were having a conversation. "So why are you guys here?" The shaggy blond, a boy named Katsuya Jonouchi, asked.

"They were lost." Anzu said. "They'll be staying at my house for now."

"Um," Kit started to speak rather nervously. "Can I call you Joey, Jonouchi? It's kind of hard to say your first name at all— Katsuya, and your last names rather long."

Joey shrugged. "Sure."

Kit nodded "I can say _your_ names fine." He nodded to Honda, (yes, he's named after a car, with pointed hair), Ryou Bakura, (white-haired boy), and Malik Ishtar, (Egyptian looking with almost-white blond hair).

"So, when is the duel?" Nita asked but was cut off by someone rushing past her, panting.

She looked down. Yes, _down_, this new comer was shorter than her.

A boy wearing a bright yellow vest hurtled past the wizard.

He had dark raven hair that desperately needed a haircut, an intelligent face, and wide gray eyes. He was very cute and _seemingly_ innocent looking.

Mokuba Kaiba shot Nita and Kit a quick glance of surprise but then turned to face the others.

"Big brother will be here soon. He'll be done with Yugi's broken Duel Disc in no time at all— so get ready to see my brother crush your little friend! Prepare to see the King of Games give up his crown to my brother— the _worthy_ duelist! Yugi Motou is going to fall! BAWAHAHAHAHA!"

He gave a wild laugh that made him sound rather insane when he remembered the two strangers standing beside him. He whipped around to glare at the dark-haired girl in ripped jeans and the Latino-looking boy in the baggy t-shirt.

"Who are you?" He demanded fiercely.

"Nita Callahan."

"Kit Rodriguez."

"—Americans?"

Nita and Kit realized that he had been speaking Japanese.

"You know Japanese?" Anzu asked, startled.

"No—" Nita said quickly, "but it was obvious that he asked who we are."

Anzu was still frowning, but she didn't press the matter; their excuse was good enough.

"Why are you— Nita and Kit— here?" Mokuba asked in perfect English. He pronounced the words even better than Anzu had.

_Boy_, Nita heard Kit's thought. _He's smart. Did you hear the way he spoke our language? Even through the Speech I can sense that he can speak English five times more fluently than Anzu! And he's just a kid_—

_He's probably around age eleven,_ Nita sent his the thought. _And don't underestimate eleven-year-olds! Remember my sister? She defeated the Lone One at that age!_

Kit sent her a mental nod and then looked at the boy.

"We're here with Anzu. We're staying at her house, and we decided to some and watch the. . . er . . . duel. If we're causing trouble, we'll leave."

"Oh, you're not." Mokuba said. "But it's my job to make sure their place is secure and only authorized persons come up here."

At that Nita's brows raised. "Your job? This big building—"

"I'm Mokuba Kaiba." He said his name firmly and proudly and as if it would answer Nita's question, but no response came from the two wizards.

"Kaiba?" He repeated, gazing at them in annoyance, and Nita heard Joey and Malik laughing behind her.

"Uh . . ."

But at that moment, the door onto the roof swung open to reveal two interesting figures. . .

Nita whipped around. Her breath caught, and her she exhaled abruptly in shock.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

(A/N) Oooh, who's the two new mysterious people? Find out next chapter! (Hint: one's very tall, other has multi-colored hair!)

Mix of original and dub names here. I originally used all dub names (because I wrote the story years ago) and didn't bother changing Joey to Jonouchi. Whatever.

Ok, I really like this story and I already wrote like five more chapters though I'm not gonna post them unless I get enough reviews. Sooo... review! Please! (I dont expect too many reviews though considering that very few people know what YW _and_ Yugioh is...)


	2. Duel Trauma!

**  
**

_WIZARDS IN THE SHADOW REALM_

We're back for chapter two! Thanks for everyone that reviewed my odd crossover! Read onwards if you wish.

Disclaimer: I own a bearded dragon. He is my pet and lives in my bedroom. I also own an outdated shiny gray iMac computer. And a cactus that hasn't been watered in a year-and-a-half. As for everything else… I do not own any of it… (I'm just borrowing!)

Author's Notes/.../ Hikari speakin/.../ Yami speaking. When it says "Bakura" it's Yami no  
Bakura in control, when it says "Ryou" it's regular Ryou… Duh.

_DUEL TRAUMA_

—X—X—X—X—

Nita whipped around. Her breath caught and she exhaled abruptly in shock.

On one side of the doorway stood a teen with spiky tri-colored hair, his crimson eyes glowed unearthly but breathtakingly bright in the sunlight. He was slim and about average height. The jacket he wore flared out when he walked and the tight leather pants were a nice change from the ordinary school uniform. He had what looked like a gold upside-down pyramid hanging from his neck. Odd, but it made him unique. The duel-disk on his arm snapped into active-dueling form and he glared at the standing opposing him-- the person who had to be his opponent.

The other person was taller. He had piercing bright blue eyes and brown hair that fell into those icy eyes. He wore straps and buckles around the ankles and wrists and a long white sleeveless trench-coat that flared at the end. His build was thin and tall, slim, and intimidating. A card of some sort hung around his neck, his duel-disk was already flashing, and he looked over the group with a commanding and assessing glare.

Nita steamed. She'd been "noticing" guys for a while now, but the person in front of her was more shockingly seductive than anyone she'd ever had a chance to lay eyes upon. And that was saying a lot, considering all the hot guys she'd been around… Including Roshaun, and Ronan... and not to mention the utterly sexy and immortal Lone One (though she would never ever admit it, but He was the by far the most beautiful and good-looking of them all)…

For a second she through of Kit, and how she felt about him, for while he was not the most hansdome boy at school he was definitely not ugly or unattractive. Something cracked inside her chest at the thought of him and she quickly banished the emotions.

She returned to gazing at thetall blue-eyed teenager and watched him, from the stands, drawn to him, yet so far away. She knew that he was beyond her league, but there was no way to stop the girl-meet-boy emotions that had welled up inside her.

_Ewww. . . Nita!_ Kit thought in her head. _You're emotions are so _strong_— can't you keep them to yorself—and you called_ me _a pervert._

_I am _not_ a pervert. _You _are. Now shut your horny face._ Nita snarled angrily, and glanced back at the two duelists.

The little boy, Mokuba, stepped forward to grab the taller duelist's arm. The man nodded and kneeled down to let Mokuba whisper in his ear.

"Who's that?" Nita asked Anzu, wondering if the only other girl around felt like she did.

"Yugi Motou." Anza spoke with an affectionate tone. "He's the King of Games..."

"No, I mean the taller guy— the brunette."

Anzu blinked and glanced sharply at Nita. "That _jerk_? He's Seto Kaiba—" She looked for Nita's reaction, and suddenly froze. "You _haven't _heard of him?"

Nita shook her head.

"Really?— that's odd; he's _famous_. Anyway, he's the _esteemed _and _weathly _CEO of Kaiba Corp— that's where we are now. He hosted Battle City Tournament, also came in second place at Duelist Kingdom— _rings no bell_?"

Nita shook her head again, feeling disappointed. President of a company— this giant company— he looked too young! But young in the business world still meant that he was too old for her.

"—And he's the biggest and cruelest prick at Domino High."

"He's goes to your school!" Nita asked. A _teen_— running an apparently million-dollor company! A company that's building stretched for blocks— She had seen the computer systems on the way up— beyond T2s and Crays— million-dollar equipment—

—_Multi-million,_ Kit corrected._ Dairine's been giving me lessons, remember? Those computers we saw on our way in— they were prototypes that sell for tens of millions each._

Nita was stunned.

"Let the duel begin!" Mokuba's voice rang out, magnified by something Nita couldn't see, probably some micro-chip magna-phone. "Big Bro— I mean— Champion Seto Kaiba-- versus King of Games, Yugi Motou! GO NII-SAMA— _KICK HIS ASS!"_

Nita and Kit watched, awed, as the monster were summoned to the field and obliterated to shards or hurled into the battle, ready for attack. The magic cards and trap cards seemed oddly real to them, and Nita kept realized that some were just like the ones in real wizardry.

Negate Attack, Mirror Force— seemed just like the protection spells that Nita preformed to stop attacks from the Lone Power. The monsters like Kuriboh reminded Nita of the small fuzzballs that lived on one of Rirhath B's moon, and the Rainbow Serpent looked like a replica of the giant snakes that swarmed under the roiling lava covering Io, one of Jupiter's moons, hidden to Earth's telescopes.

"That is really cool. . ." Kit whispered to Nita in awe. "I wish it was this popular in the US, then I could be really good at it! After watching two world champs duel. . ."

Nita flashed him a wry grin. "Yeah, you would like it. Half of these thing's we've experienced in _reality_— not holographic—"

Five minutes later the Blue Eyes White Dragon hovered over the field and Kit and Nita looked up in awe. The dragon didn't look like the Fire-worm that the two wizards had dealt with, but it wasn't supposed to.

This dragon wasn't a fire-worm— it was an actual _dragon_! Or a holograph of one.

"The holographic technology is really superb." Nita mentioned to Anzu.

Anzu looked uneasy. "It it, isn't it? It looks so real, that's for sure. . . well, the Kaibas' are rather good with technology. From hacking into unbreakable systems and codes, all the way to virtual tech, they can do it all..."

Nita noticed Anzu's apprehension when she mentioned _'virtual _technology,' and when she mentioned them 'appearing so real,' but didn't ask about it.

Meanwhile, across the bench Ryou Bakura was shifting uneasily on his seat.

"Are you okay?" Joey asked him in Japanese.

Ryou jumped and almost slid right off the bench. He glared at the blond, "Fine, don't worry about me."

Joey scratched his neck and went back to cheering for Yugi, screaming, "IF YOU DON'T WIN I'M GONNA EAT YOUR BREAKFAST!"

Ryou sighed/_What were you saying/_ He asked the voice in his head. The fact that the boy was having a conversation with a voice in his head could be considered mad, but in truth it was just a spirit that inhabited the Sennen Ring that he wore around his neck.

The voice laughed coldly. /_Why do you need me to tell you?/_

/_I'm not sure what exactly it __means./_ Ryou replied saucily.

_/Why is the Ring acting up? is what I asked. It usually does that around other Sennen Items, and besides Yugi's Puzzle, he also has the Necklace, the Rod, and I have the Eye in my pocket. There are none others here— so I'm definitely not feeling the Scale or Key./_

_/How do you know that the Ring isn't reacting to the many Items here then? Five out of seven Items in one place... in my day, when I was the Thief King, I would have stolen them all!--/_

/_Not to mention that fact that you'd have killed their owners and murdered everyone else in sight./_ Ryou interrupted, sounding disapproving.

The voice ignored it's host's irritant tone and continued. _/Maybe the Ring senses them, and remembers the days when I—/_

_/Because it's _not_ reacting to your past. I'd know. I can tell too.../_

_/Then it must be sensing something else. Let me take over... That way I can actually feel the Ring and know what it's saying. /_

As the spirit said "_let me take over. . ._" Ryou felt a rush of drowsiness sweep through him. He fought the urge and acted as if the spirit hadn't been trying to control his body yet again.

_/The Ring doesn't _say_ things, Yami. It's a Ring, it can't speak./_

The spirit snickered. _/I wouldn't be so sure. . . The ultimate Power of Darkness, the Zork, lives within the Item that has it's spikes buried in your chest this very moment, not any other. The Sennen Ring, I mean. . . besides that, it also lives within me— and I guess in you, being my reincarnation and one-and-only host./_

_/What's that?/ _Ryou asked quickly, sensing the importance but having not understood half the sentence.

_/Never mind that. . . Maybe it's reacting to Sennen Eye in your pocket. Or Malik's Rod. Both of those Items are very close to us/_ The spirit looked through Ryou's eyes to see the Rod tucked in Malik's belt and felt the eyes resting in the hikari's leg pocket. _/But I won't know unless you let me take over. /_

/_I'm not letting you out, so give up already. I think it's sensing some _other_ sort of _power

/_Interesting. I see that little Ryou is finally catching on. . . are you finally able to sense the Shadow Powers after living in my head for years?/_

/You're _in _my _head__, not the other way around. And what's up with the_ _'little Ryou' crap? Why do you call me that?— Oh, who cares? I'm sure the Ring is activating because we're close_ _to some sort of power source. . . But I wonder what it is. /_

But the spirit had locked itself back in it's soul room. Ryou let out a breath of annoyance and turned back to the duel.

— — — — —

Kit frowned at the white-haired boy. Kit had just sensed a spell forming, but one of a kind he'd never felt before. He could feel the spell taking place, the magic in the air was vibrating with it, a telepathy-mind-speak spell, but it was a whole different type of magic!

_But there's only one magic!_ Kit thought it surprise. _Wizardry— given to the mortals from the Powers— nothing else!_

He glanced at Nita to see if she had noticed but she was chatting with Anzu about Duel Monsters and laughing at the cards Anzu showed her.

"That one!" Nita pointed. "It's like—" She whispered in Anzu's ear and giggled.

Anzu sniggered and sent a glance at Malik.

Malik noticed the girls snickering at him and shifted to glower at them.

"I couldn't help it!" Nita moaned, clutching her sides that ached from laughing.

Anzu held a card between two fingers looking thoughtful. "Nothing. . . .

Malik yanked the card away and looked down at the purple smiley face (obviously one of Anzu's happy friendship cards). He blinked at it in confusion and threw it back to Anzu.

The two girls started laughing all over again.

None of the others could figure out what was amusing. But, much to Kit's intense relief, at least the girls were getting along.

— — — — —

It was ten minutes later, the duel was still in stale-mate.

Anzu and Nita were still giggling over the cards, and laughing at the boys gathered.

The boys not dueling or supervising the duel, were down to the last straw. The giggles of the girls were starting to become more than slightly irritant. Honda, Joey, Kit, Malik, and even Ryou were just about ready to leap atAnzu and Nita and rip up their cards in order to get them to shut up (not to mention girls themselves) when Seto Kaiba cried, "_Now I destroy you with my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon! Come, my beast, strike with Burst Stream! ATTACK HIS DARK MAGICIAN!"_

The giant ball of white fire slammed into the Magician wearing what looked like a purple dress. Nita's winced— she had liked that Magician card, it reminded her of wizards and magic!

"I won, Yugi Motou. I told you that I would, yes I did. You are worthless nothingness, that's why I defeated you!" Seto Kaiba gloated as the dragon faded away and the dueling platform lowered.

Yugi (actually it was Yami no Yugi, but Nita and Kit didn't know that) shook his head. "You never learn, do you?" He said in a deep voice. "All that matters is that you have fun and play a good game and believe in the Heart of the Cards."

"Heart of the damned effing Cards! This is what I think of them!" Seto Kaiba spat hatefully. "It's my superior _skill_ that made me win!"

"He thinks a lot of himself, that one." Kit muttered quietly to Nita.

Yugi shook his head again sorrowfully, as if he pitied Kaiba, and headed towards his friends.

He suddenly looked slightly different. He looked shorter, his eyes were bigger, and more innocent. And suddenly less hot.

"Who are you?" Yugi asked. And he spoke English, but only because Mokuba told Seto and Yugi to speak that language because of guests.

"This is Kit and Nita." Anzu spoke for them. "They're from America. New York— the same city that I'd _love_ to go to study dance at—"

Yugi smiled and everyone shook hands. Nita noticed that Seto Kaiba was watching them. No— not them—her and Kit!She blushed.

He walked forward,his long trench-coat-like cape slapping in the wind behind him, his cold eyes sharp. "New members of the geek squad?"

Kaiba asked, in icy perfect English, even clearer than his little brother. If possible, more than Nita and Kit's, and they _lived_ in America (maybe it was their New York accents that did it).

"So you're Seto Kaiba?" Kit asked curtly. His voice had a rough edge, as if he didn't approve.

Seto narrowed his eyes and smirked. "Yes, I am. And who the hell are you?"

"Kit Rodriguez. And it's nothing to swear about." Kit hated the boys in his and Nita's school that swore all the time, just to because they thought it was cool. It made him sick, but at times it seemed a pointless thing to complain about because even Nita cussed at times.

But Seto didn't look offended. At all. "And the girl?"

"The _girl_," Nita stepped forward, twisting a strand of dark hair on her finger. She hoped she sounded self-assured and proud. "--Is named Nita. Nita Callahan."

Seto nodded, barely sparing her a glance, and shot a nasty look back at Yugi. Nita was sure that he hadn't even listened to her. "You can your little friends can clear off now. I'm busy. I've got a company to run and work to do."

"Right," Yugi nodded and motioned for the wizards to follow.

— — — — —

In the crowded elevator, filled with eight people, Kit and Nita were separated and pushed in separate corners, but still were better off than pour Ryou, who was jammed flat against the glass.

"Floor one!" Malik jabbed the button. Nothing happened. He slammed his fist into it. Nothing.

Malik was the type to loose his temper in a millisecond over nothing at all. And that's just what he did. What little self control he had evaporated and he was suddenly raging.

"_Arrrgggh_!" He withdrew a shiny object that Nita couldn't entirely see from across the tight elevator space.

Ryou inhaled sharply as soon as the metal was in open air, seeing and feeling it's glow in his mind. He could see it despite the fact that Honda and Joey in front of him and were completely blocking his view. _A Sennen Item!_ Ryou had always been very keen to notice and sense other Items when they were out in the open orin use. He wouldn't tell anyone, but it wasn't _only_ the Spirit of the Ring that was intrigued by the Sennen Items' powers, their shiny gold beauty, and their ancient heritage. Maybe it was because of the Ancient Tomb Robber Thief King that controlled half his mind and obsessed over them, because he did too.

(A/N: In the manga, not only is Thief Bakura interested in the Items, but so is Ryou. He's like "I'm just interested in what they can do, where they came from." Everyone else freaks out when he takes out the Ring, but he goes on bringing it everywhere with him, stroking it... )

Malik jabbed the button with the pointy bottom of the Rod. Still nothing was happening!

Malik glared at everyone and then smashed the button with the Rod. "_YOU STUPID GOD-DAMNED BUTTON IN THE STUPID FU'GHN ELEVATOR IN THIS STUPID COMPANY BUILDING IN THIS STUPID COUNTRY!—"_

For a second everything was still. But then suddenly Nita and Kit were slammed with an invisible force of magic neither had felt anything like before and the elevator made a screeching sound and suddenly they were all hurdling downwards.

"_AHHHHHH_!" Anzu grabbed the nearest person in fear, who happened to be Kit. The boy immediately relaxed in her arms.

Nita screeched and clawed at the sick wall to keep from collapsing. Joey and Honda jostled beside her, stuggling for balance as the elevator vaulted downwards.

Yugi closed his eyes, his hands were wrapped around the gold triangle hanging for his neck and Malik was still screaming at the elevator buttons;

"_YOU— STUPID—"_ He kicked the elevator door, "_DUMB— ELEVATOR— DAMN — IT!"_

And Bakura is watching the whole horror seen calmly, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, smirking. An odd red glint in his deep brown eyes.

Suddenly the elevator jolted to a halt and sent everyone flying. Everyone but Bakura fell down.

"Oww." Anzu moaned. "I'm never going to go in an elevator with a Ishtar again."

Malik rolled his lilac eyes. "It wasn't _my_ fault." Why was he blamed for everything? For sending people to the Shadow Realm, when his _Yami_ obviously did it. He'd been blamed for world domination when it was his Mind-slaves that attacked Yugi and his friends, (sure, they were under _his_ order and control, doing what he told them to do,but that wasn't the point) — it was never his fault! This time, it was clearly the _Rod's_ fault, not his!

"The Sennen Rod did it."

"And who _made_ the Rod do it?" Joey asked, rubbing his back and neck at the same time. "If the elevator buttons aren't pushing properly, Malik, you can ask for help. Next time, don't use Sennen Rod and jab the button until it breaks!"

Malik looked thoughtful. "That's a good idea, next time I'll do that."

"Next time," Anzu mumbled, "No one will be in the elevator _with_ you— so there will be no one to ask for help." She dusted off her skirt, which was a spectacularly easy thing to do, considering how very short the length of material that made up the skirt was, while Kit helped her up.

Nita glared at him. Who was going to help _her_ up?

"Hey," Yugi said, looking suddenly hot again. He pulled her up and Nita smiled. At least _some_ boys were polite. . .

"What's the Sennen Rod?" Nita asked curiously.

Immediately everyone looked uneasy.

"Er. . . ." Malik pulled it out. "This?"

Nita reached out to touch it, but her fingers barely brushed again the golden metal when Malik snatched it away. "Mine!"

"Don't touch it! You'll get it dirty."

"Can I see it then? Please—"

"_Let her."_ Came Bakura's suddenly-cold voice. Nita shuddered— there was an odd under-tone in his voice that mist definitely had not been there moments before. It reminded her off when the Lone Power overshadowed wizards minds— the voices suddenly changed tones and pitches. Was Ryou being controlled— and by _what_? Nita knew her enemy, and the Lone One was definitely not anywhere near here.

Malik pouted, but oddly enough, didn't resist Bakura's will and handed the Rod over.

Nita could barely hold it. It was alive with magic— burning to touch. Kit came forward, his eyes wide, startled. This is what he had been sensing! Kit had once been able to sense metal things, while Nita usually stuck to live things. But both wizards were changing, and now Nita could almost sense inanimate things just as well as he could.

"Wow." Nita said, awed. "It's so. . . powerful." She wondered if Malik knew just how magical this item was.

_How can he?_ Kit thought in her mind. _We'd know if he was wizard— Or at least _I _would, 'cause you never seem to notice when guys are wizards or not, like Ronan.  
_

_Maybe there's _other _types of magic. Of power_. Nita countered. _Maybe he knows of the magic but not the same as ours. That's how he was able to get the elevator working-- with magic-- but without the Speech. _Nita wondered. _Remember, you just mentioned sensing that Ryou was performing a spell— of a different kind?_

_Yes, but—_

"It is powerful, isn't it?" Bakura said slyly. Nita looked up just in time to see Bakura's sharp brown eyes meet the lilac gaze of Malik and something flickered in both pairs.

Nita shuddered for no apparent reason. It was as if two great Powers were conversing in languages to complex to be vocal, but still not at complex as the Speech. . . She didn't understand at all.

"We've been in the elevator on floor one for maybe five minutes now. Let's go out." Honda said sensibly.

"Yeah." The awkward group of teens departed from Kaiba Corp.

— — — — —

Seto Kaiba sat at his desk inside his top-floor office, leaning into the back of his chair, smirking.

It felt s_o good_ to have finally defeated little Yugi Motou... The last time they had dueled felt so long ago— and the damn brat had won! But _now_ Seto was back on top, where he belonged.

And it seemed that Yugi's cheerleading squad had grown too. . . grown to include Americans! What had the world come to? Being friends with people who lived in loony Pegasus's home country--

Someone knocked on the door, causing Seto to stop his pointless musing and snap at the person behind the door.

_Don't fire them. ._ . He told himself, trying not to lose his mighty temper.

_But I just won a duel against the King of __Games! What am I supposed __to do? Let them get away with disturbing me in my glory?– hell no!_

The door opened and immediately Seto took back his anger.

"Big bro?" Mokuba asked, hesitantly. "Can I go to the arcade with Yugi-kun and Katsuya-kun and everyone?"

The idea, that his brother was good friends with his enemy, made Seto clench his fists. "No. Find something else to do— you're a smart boy, don't let your brain rot! Finish working on that hacking code you started on— and then we'll figure out what Industrial Illusions is up to again!"

"But that's not fun!" Mokuba resisted, then looked thoughtful. He gave Seto puppy eyes. His wide gray eyes shimmered with innocence that only a child could have and Seto found he couldn't look away.

_Must resist. . . . must resist. . .  
_

"Sure you can go! Make sure you stay safe and have fun!"

Mokuba's gaze immediately hardened up and mischief returned to his smart and disturbingly clever grey eyes. Mokuba could seem as innocent as a pink Kuriboh to strangers, but in truth he was child that was the true juxtaposition of innocent. From purposely poisoning others' food with cianide (in an attempt to kill or permanently ruin) Jonouchi, hacking into other companies secret knowledges stores, running around Duelist Kindgom fleeing Pegasus and his goons, --Mokuba was long _since _innocent. He snickered and left the room.

As soon as the smaller boy left the room Seto realized what he had said.

Mokuba, knowing the teenage CEO's _only_ weak spot, took advantage of that often. And since he _was_ the weak spot, around big brother, he almost always got his way.

—X—X—X—X—

That's all for now folks! Be nice and R&R!

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	3. New Surroundings

_WIZARDS IN THE SHADOW REALM_

And we're back for chapter three! Thanks for everyone that reviewed, especially DreamerofDragons for always reviewing and LadyVella42 who reviewed both chapters and doesn't even know what YW is.

_NEW SURROUNDINGS  
_

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Nita was sweating in the bright sun. The heat was overwhelming and so she dropped down upon a near-by bench and closed her heavy eyes.

"Is anyone sitting here?"

Nita opened one eye. It was Ryou. He gestured politely at the seat next to her.

"No."

"I'm very tired myself." Ryou sat down next to her, talking easily, letting her drift away and just nod every so often if she wanted to. "In New York, I expect that it's much colder right now. America is usually cooler, being farther from the equator and all. . . Though it is rather warmer here today that usual. . ."

Nita nodded, wanting to doze off, but then jerked around and looked at him sharply.

A glazed look had come across the boy's face, and Nita felt it--

The spell— being formed! It was as if she could hear him chanting it in his mind— Except there was no sense of the Speech involved. _What?!_

Ryou, assuming that the girl beside him was ignorant and too weary to pay attention, felt for the Yami spirit of the Ring inside himself. _/ Bakura./_

_/ What, Little One?/_

The spirit was starting to disturb him. Then again, if it _didn't_ disturb him, he'd be worried. _/ Little One? What's that about/_

_/ Well, you are. Little— I mean. /_

/_ I am not. Shut up. You're starting to creep me out— Oh wait, what do I mean by "starting?" You've _always_ scared me— but right now you're just plain disturbing. This isn't your usual way of addressing me, rather more affectionate. /_

_/ Are you telling me that I'm disturbing? And that I'm being affectionate? Well, if that we the case— do you _want_ to be hurt or abused or anything like that? Of course I can't hurt _you_, considering that fact that we share a body— and that yours is ample and very nice— I wouldn't harm it. But I _could_ kill your _friends-- /

_/ Just shut up. /_

_/ Whatever you say, my clueless host. What did you want to talk about— in the daylight and openess— like this/_

_/ Isn't it obvious? Or have you been trapped in a metal necklace for too long/  
_

/_ Metal Necklace? It's called a 'ring!' Though originally you adressed it as a 'pendant.' How thick you be, not able to tell that it's a damned Ring?... /_

Ryou groaned and back in the outside world Nita stared at him.

/_You moron. Maybe you can only feel it if you're running the body— and no, I'm not going to let you—It's the girl! Right next to me— she's giving off an astounding aura of power! Do you think that she has some unheard-of Sennen Item?/_

_/ No, there are no more Items. That's simply a pathetic idea. I keep very close track on the ones that exist, where they are, what purpose they serve... /_ There was an unusual heated tone in the spirit's voice. Some sort of hatred that Ryou had never heard before. It burned the inside of his skull to endure. _/ It has to be something else. ...I'll tap into the power of the Ring to measure her power level. /_

Ryou felt their connection dim and waited patiently while his silly Yami got lost inside the tunnels of the Ring.

"Ryou, are you alright?" Nita asked, snapping him back to reality.

"Huh?" The white-haired boy blinked in the sun-light. "Sure, I'm fine."

"No, you're not." She said. "You were spacing out, and maybe that's all, but. . ." _But I felt you performing a spell!_

He frowned, "Uh—"

_/ Her power isn't coming from any physical source. _/ Yami Bakura'a thoughts rang in Ryou's head, distracting him yet again, and this time, in the middle of a sentence.

_/ What/_ He goggled.

/_ The girl! It's coming from _her_, her body, soul, mind-- whatever! In ancient Egypt we'd call it her 'Ba!' It's like that with the boy, the new one, too. /_

Ryou leapt up and glanced at Kit, who standing a few yards away. "You mean Nita and Kit?"

_/. . .We should kill them and take their powers/_ was the spirit Bakura's afterthought.

Kit turned away from Joey and Anzu when he heard his name. "Is everything all right?"

"Yeah," Nita said hurriedly, grabbing the white haired boy's shirt and wheeling him away from them.

"Ryou Bakura?" She asked hesitantly, then immediately skipped into a rushed and impatient voice. "I sense that you're not normal— and neither is that Rod of Malik's or that Yugi-kid."

"Uh. . ." At least his Yami had cleared from his mind. Talking to Yami no Bakura made Ryou feel more than slightly insane, "Nita." Ryou said calmly, almost soothingly. "This doesn't concern you—"

_/ Yes it does. Don't be liar, Ryou! We _want _her power; it _completely _concerns her. /_

Ryou winced and though his arm jerked forward, he kept it back. It would look very suspicious if he started to clutch his forehead, or chest, in pain as he would have liked to do, (it was kind of hard to ignore the fact that the spikes hanging from the Ring were burying themselves in his flesh yet again, and the fact that blood was dribbling down his skin, staining the inside of his t-shirt). The Spirit would do this to get his way when really angry or pissed— and the metal spikes inside his skin— hurt like hell.

"—Please, it doesn't matter." Ryou gasped. "Forget about it— all."

Nita blinked. She had expected denial— but not more secrets! "So you three _are_ special?"

Ryou looked uneasy. His hand was raising to hover over his chest were he wanted to rip the Ring out of his flesh. "Well, yeah— but I told you forget about it! It doesn't matter."

So he _did_ know about the magic— Ryou had just admitted it. Nita decided to dare it— besides, if the turnouts were bad, she could erase his memory.

Nita took a breath. Ryou knew about the magic. He _had _to. _"I'm on Errantry, and I greet you."_

Ryou blinked, lowering his hand as the Ring had suddenly lay flat against his chest. "Uh..."

_Dammit_! Nita thought. _He's _not _a wizard— but he has magic! How can it be? There's only one type of magic! He _has_ to be a wizard!_

_Who?_ Kit asked her. He must have heard her loud and suprised thought.

_Nothing— keep talking to Miss Friendship and the Mutt._

_Sheesh, Nita. Anzu and Joey aren't that bad—_

_I never said they _were She cut the connection and distracted everyone by calling out to Mokuba, who was running towards them.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X

They played at the arcade for awhile, and then headed home.

Back at Anzu's they pulled down sleeping bags and their host explained how her parents wouldn't be there (and how Kit wouldn't get a chance to try Mrs. Mazaki's delicious and exotic cooking for dinner) because they were on a short vacation.

"So, we'll have the house to ourselves." Kit said, grinning. "Let's have late-night! Invite Joey and Yugi over— we'll party!"

Anzu frowned. "Nah, let's not. I don't want to make a mess or deny my parents' trust."

"Aw. . . " Kit looked crestfallen. "Can we at least watch a movie?"

"In English? Other than my learn-English-today films?" Anzu countered. "I don't have any. And trust me, the near-by video rental place has none... Well, actually, it has a whole English section, but it's a pain to drive there..." Anzu sighed.

_That's OK,_ Kit thought, feeling depressed. _I'd understand Japanese. But she doesn't know that, and can't._

"There's English channels on cable." Nita said brightly. "One has got to have movies..."

They flicked though the channels and ended up watching some old soapy romance movie that had pitiful graphics and a ridiculous plot including pocky (Japanese candy) falling out of the sky...

"That was disturbing. . ." said Anzu. Her mood darkened momentarily when she remember some of the _really _disturbing scenes that she had witnessed in the Shadow Realm during Battle City. She covered her remorse by laughing.

"I agree." Kit sent her a wide grin and then yawned.

Everyone decided that it was time to go to bed. Anzu went into her room and they heard her door shut with a loud click.

Kit glanced across the room to see Nita looking up at the ceiling with worried eyes.

"What's up?" Nita sighed, spread her fingers so that they cracked, and stretched out across her sleeping bag. "Kit, how will we get home? I can't barely do any magic at all— see?" She snapped her fingers. The manual, now sitting out in the middle of the room opened to some random page on eating chimera steaks, was supposed to fly into her hand. But the book then just flopped over.

"It shouldn't take any wizardry to summon the manual. It's designed that way." She closed her eyes. "That spell, the one we used to get here— was huge— we were trying to get galaxies away. It would drain us of magic for weeks, especially now, after the Pullulus, and our weakened state. . . And it _did _drain us, as it was supposed to do, but instead we landed half-way across the _world_. It shouldn't have taken _that _much magic just to leap across the planet!"

"Yes." Kit told her. "It _should_. Just because the original coordinates were destroyed doesn't make the spell any simpler than before. Tom and Carl said we'd be like this for about a month. It's like a huge hang-over after drinking for days and days."

"I guess. But not only that, Kit, we have to rewrite the whole spell now, not just reassign the destination! Something went wrong, and we don't know what— the spell is too faulty to be re-performed. It may take _days_ to simply solve the new locus and find portals! And it may take _days_ before we even have our wizardry back! Two things to keep us stuck here. At this rate, we'll never leave!"

"Nita— calm down! The Powers That Be must have some reason for sending us here..."

"But what?" Nita snapped. "Why couldn't they send some less experienced wizards— I don't see any danger lurking here— why _us?"_

Kit shook his head. "Their motives are never clear, but there's got to be an excellent reasons."

"Sure, and those reasons are. . .?" Nita muttered skeptically.

"Nita, I'm no Power, I don't know."

Nita glared at him for moment and turned away to face the wall with a huff.

"Nita. . ." Kit started slowly but Nita whipped around and snarled.

"Kit! I know why you don't care about the spell or getting home— you _like_ it here! You like the dueling, you like the temperature and hot weather, you like Jonouchi and their littler gang—" She gestured at Anzu's closed door. "And you _especially _like our host."

Kit looked shocked by her sudden outburst but didn't deny it. "I just don't see why we need to leave so fast! _Why _are we in a hurry? Even the Powers take their time— eons of it! Look, it took them since the beginning of time until now to defeat the Lone One completel in a Choice— We have a place to stay, friends, fun, and everything— why is leaving so _urgent_?" He shook his head. "We didn't get a break on Alaalu, maybe _this _is our break, here in calm Domino City with our new friends! Our parents won't even worry since we disappear on Errantry so often anyway—"

Nita leapt up. "_Our parents!" _She hissed. "I only have _one parent left_! So shut up— you uncaring bastard!" She tore from the room and Kit could hear her settle down on the couch in the other room, still snarling under her breath and sniffing.

Kit rolled over in his sleeping bag, untangled the sheets, and faced the wall. He hadn't meant it that way, and she knew it. He was sure she'd feel better in the morning. In the meantime he would rest, and maybe regain some strength of mind and power.

Nita curled up on the stranger's couch and whimpered. How _dare _he? Kit knew she was still weak about her mother's death— well, duh! It had only been earlier this school year— last semester for god's sake! And what does he do? Bring it up just to make her _relive _the pain?

It wasn't fair. She had never done anything wrong-- but the Lone One does ahead and kills off her mother anyway. It ruined her childhood forever, and despite all the magic she had, (or because of it), there had been nothing that she could do to stop the death or bring her mom back.

Finally Nita went back to her sleeping bag in the room with Kit, relieved to hear Kit's sound breathing, meaning that he was alseep. Or at last pretending to be. Either way, she was glad that it wasn't necessary to face him.

She shut her eyes, wondering what the Powers had in store for her and Kit.

In her dreams she was being chased by It all night— running from the Lone One-- daggers of pinning darkness grabbed at her, pulled her hair and ran nails down her skin. All the while she was screaming, locked in the eternal darkness of pain and torture. And the three figures of Bakura, Malik, and Yugi watched silently on the sides. But they did nothing save her as she started to disappear in the darkness— despite her pleas and yelling for help-- they stood there silently, watching her fade away. And Kit wasn't there at all.

Then the dream changed. She was trapped in an hourglass. Trapped. Sand fell down, each trickle splattering down, ceaselessly. Like Chinese Water Torture, but without the drops of water. It was in her hair, her eyes, and soon she was drowning in it. She cried out, banged on the glass, kicked it until her toes were numb and fists bloody and nails broken, but no matter what she did, she still couldn't get out! It never even occurred to the dream-Nita to use her wizardry. But soon there was no air left. She was suffocating— dying— in the sand. It was the end, she could see Kit laughing with Anzu through the glass, and they were holding hands-- but every time she called out, they couldn't hear her. _"HELP ME!"_

The nightmare woke her too early that morning, her head spinning with confusion. What the hell did _that _mean!

Nita wanted to record it in her dream-log in the Manual, but was too tired. had it been a Lucid dream? She fell back asleep and didn't remember anything of it the next time she woke up.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Where are we going?" Kit repeated as they walked down the street. Unlike the day before, the weather was cool and refreshing.

"You'll see." Anzu said keenly, then changed the subject. "How do you like my parents?" They had arrived early that morning.

"They were nice." Kit said quickly. "I loved your mom's cooking."

"Kit, it was only breakfast. . . you should see her dinners!"

"I drool at the idea."

At that Nita sent him a rude thought. She couldn't help it. _Drool at the dinner... or _her

Kit shot Nita a surprised glance. _The first. . . what's up with you, Neets? Why a you acting like this?  
_

Nita flushed and sent him an emotion instead of an actual thought. It was one of anger and irritance. Nita turned away from him to glare at Anzu, who was starting to notice the awkward silences, though not what took place between them and what they meant.

"Anzu." Nita snapped, moody because of the fact that it was still early morning, and the circumstances of last night. "Where are we going?"

The other girl frowned. "You can calm down, Nita! We're just going to school!"

But Nita didn't calm, on the contrary she leapt back, almost stumbling and falling over on the side-walk, in total disbelief and surprise. "_WHAT?_ I noticed— you said 'we're' instead of 'I.' You don't mean _me and Kit too?"_

Anzu blinked. "Well, of course I do! My parents aren't going to let you just sit at home! Who knows how long you'll be here! My school gets exchange students all the time— most of the classes that you'll be in are done in English— that's why everyone here is so fluent. But English is the official language of science and Dueling Tournaments are always done by hosts who speak English! Seto Kaiba grew up speaking both languages— he has to be able to— to run an International Company!"

Nita froze and repeated, "School?"

"Yes."

"But we'll be in your classes, right?" Kit yawned.

Nita gawked at him in disbelief. "Kit, you do realize that we're about to attend a foreign school--" _And all you care about it being in some girl's class room!_

_  
_"—We'll get to see Joey again," Kit interupted. "And Yugi, and Honda! What about Malik and everyone else?"

"—_So?"_ Nita cried, deciding not to finish her sentence. Kit turned away from her, blinking.

"Anzu, who else do we already know in Domino High?"

"OH, there's also Kaiba and Ryou. Malik's our age, but he doesn't go to school because if he did, it would be in Egypt, his native country. And, er, he has some, uh, well I guess it's best put as _'religious reasons'_ why he never went to school there either. You could say that he was home-schooled."

Both Americans' could hear the distinct hesitation in her voice. Best put as 'religious reasons?' What the heck did that mean?

"How old are you guys?" Anzu asked suddenly.

"Huh?" Nita blinked. "I just turned fifteen."

Kit hesitated. "I'm a year younger than Nita. Fourteen."

Anzu frowned. "That may cause some problems. . . Oh well, everyone else is sixteen or fifteen, and I fifteen at the beginning of this year, just so you know. Nita, you're just a big younger than most of the year; that's nothing, but Kit, you may not be able to keep up in our classes . . ."

At that comment Kit bristled. "Keep up?" He asked sharply. "Actually _not_. I skipped a year back in America, keeping up will be _no problem at all."_

Nita sighed. "He's right. Kit's in all the advanced classes back home, I should be the one we're worrying about."

"Why? You're not stupid— if anything, I think you look smart."

_"Look?_" Nita asked. "I _am _smart, but not as smart as Kit." She glanced at Kit, casting him a look that could be interpreted as either annoyance or affection. "He's a _genius_."

Anzu nodded, "Well then. I can't see what else could be a problem."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X

But as soon as they arrived, Nita blanched, and new and previously unexpected problem was revealed.

_"School uniforms!"_ Nita said, heatedly. "And they're _bright pink_! With _bows_! I've got nothing against the color pink, but I've worn Batman and Star Wars t-shirts all my life! _This_-- this outfit!-- eh, it's so _unpleasant_!"

The pleated blue skirt now wrapped around her butt was cute enough. She twirled around before the mirror realized that the skirt wasn't long enough to conceal her pinstriped panties.

...The outfit itself was bad. But _that _was truly tragic.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

And it's time for school! See you at Domino High, next chappie!


	4. School on Vacation?

_WIZARDS IN THE SHADOW REALM_

I haven't updated this story in a year, but my old computer is dying and so I was looking through all my old files when moving them into a zip drive, and I was bored, and I bothered to read this story. I have chapters and chapters of it already written, but I never got around to editting them and posting them. Well, until now, at least. Please review!

_SCHOOL ON VACATION?_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Nita tugged on the hems of her blue skirt. "I can't believe this," she muttered. She had been whispering quietly to the skirt in the Speech, gently coaxing the fabric to expand and stretch, but it seemed already to be at it's furthest, so the whole idea had been futile.

"What?" Anzu asked, preoccupied with organizing her gym locker.

"I have to wear a school _uniform_." Nita snapped, looking down at the skimpy stereotypical-anime-school-girl outfit that she was sporting. "That's what!"

"It can't be _that _bad!" Anzu reasoned.

"It is." Nita said. "I like having the freedom to choose which clothes to wear. And how can I even sit in this thing; I can't even stand in it without it riding up!" She tugged uselessly at the hem of skirt again.

Two years ago, Nita would never have been caught alive in such a short skirt. She was grateful that she had since updated her wardrobe to fit the times and match what the other high school girls wore. But unlike any of her own skirts, this skirt flared outwards, so that if she shifted to stand in any different position at all, boys would see up right up her skirt!

They were looking at her legs enough already...

_They won't look at me here, _Nita assured herself, her face red with heat. _Not with busty D-cup Anzu beside me._

They walked out of the girl's lockers room to meet the boys in the hall.

Nita couldn't help but snicker at the sight of Kit. He looked so awkward in the blue-black Domino High uniform! Not ugly, just... awkward. But she refused to look him in the face, and instinctively her hand began to pull the skirt lower, trying to keep herself from blushing.

Joey whistled. "Whoa, Neets!"

Nita's face flushed bright red. "Shut up." She elbowed him and they headed for their classes.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Is this it?" Kit asked, ducking out of the classroom. "Finally we can eat. _Lunch_!"

"Yep." Joey said, banging a vending machine with his fists affectionately, as if it was his best pal. "Food. _Good_."

Anzu glanced at Nita, rolled her eyes in the boys' direction, and grabbed a lunch tray. "Hey, Nita. In case they're curious, tell the gang that I'm busy this period."

"Busy?" Nita asked.

"Oh, I have Friendship Club. See you later!"

_Friendship Club?..._ Maybe it was popular in Japan, and was a cultural thing? Nita shrugged and sat down next to Kit. Kit and Joey were both slobbering over their glutted plates, they sat down with Honda at a lunch table and began to stuff their faces.

In disgust, Nita lifted her own tray and slid in next to Yugi and Ryou, who, thankfully, weren't eating like deranged pigs.

"...Since the ability disables the effect of all magic or trap cards, it's practically impossible to defeat unless you have a stronger monster." Yugi was saying.

Ryou looked thoughtful. "Well, I'm actually not so sure. I recently added a new card to my deck. . . it's very hard to— er— _come by_. It would cancel your monster's ability even though your monster's own canceling ability is supposed to de-activate mine. It's like the ultimate Trap Jammer."

"How'd you get it?" Yugi asked, thrilled by a card with 'Ultimate' power.

"Er. . ." Ryou barely glanced at Nita before shooting Yugi a quick look that clearly said "_don't talk about it in front of her."_

Nita felt as if she was stung on the nose by an invisible bee. She was intruding in their conversation, so Nita quickly looked away and back at her food.

Ryou changed the subject to talk about some other dueling system, but meanwhile Yugi was tapping into the Sennen Puzzle's power.

_/ Mou hitori no boku/ _he said, calling upon his other self._  
_

The voice that answered was deep in pitch, and even deeper in his mind. It was urgent and brimming with care. Or at least more so than Yami no Bakura who dwelled inside the Snnen Ring. Yami no Bakura cared, but hated to show it, and wouldn't, unless it was a life-or-death serious stake. The spirit within Yugi, however, was much kinder.

_/ Yes? What is it that you need, partner/_

_/ I think Yami no Bakura stole something again. We should tell him off later. He needs to stop stealing! I know he as a Thief King in his past life, but that was 3000 years ago! ...Seriously, he needs to grow up. /_

_/ Yugi, now don't get in the habit of being a tattle-tail. But since I was watching through your eyes... I would have seen anyway. I'll punish him later, don't worry. /_

_/ OK. And one more thing.../_

_/ ...What/ _Now the voice was sounding slightly exasperated, though still speaking in a very cultured and kind tone.

_/ It's the girl . . . Nita. And the other boy, Kit. /_

_/ The new kids? What about them/_

_/ I sense that they are carrying secrets. Big ones. /_

There was pause, then Yami replied slowly._ / I can feel it too. This is strange. . . but we'll look into it later, ok? Aibou--/_

_/ Sure. /_ Yugi cut the connection. Nita felt it.

Startled, Nita almost dropped the book that she had propped up against her lunch tray. She had finished eating a few moments ago and decided to read her novel while the everyone else rounded off their own meals.

Ryou and Yugi noticed her flinch. Yugi was frowning, why had the girl jumped when he cut the connection with his Yami? Of course she hadn't felt it. . . it was coincidence, it had to be. . .

Ryou frowned darkly. He had told her _not_ to notice the Sennen Items! He himself had only noticed the Puzzle activate, because of the Ring, whose special ability was to notify it's master of what all the other near-by Sennen Items were doing at all times.

It was a rather irritating side-effect, knowing what the Items were doing... His Sennen Ring told him every time anything at all was done with an Item... and Malik tended to do some... er, _nasty_ things with his Item. Put it this way, Ryou would _not_ want to be the Rod... or have his soul imprisoned in it, which also happened to be the Ring's ability. The Ring happened to house much darkness within it's layers of gold...

And to Ryou, it seemed as if Nita could sense the Item's powers, just like he could. Yugi, sitting beside him, was also able to sense something odd about her. Ryou could sense her power, while Yugi could sense her abundant secrets...

Nita couldn't stand it. That strange power emanating from both boys and the Items around their necks. She hated the secrecy. Knowing that some very powerful kind of magic, of wizardly, was right before her, yet she couldn't acknowledge or even understand it. She excused herself and got up to walk away. They were talking in low voices behind her, probably about her.

Nita sighed and looked for somewhere else to sit. She knew no one. Except...

Seto Kaiba sat alone in the corner of the giant room with a laptop out. He seemed to be a loner, as Nita had once been, but unlike her, he wasn't messed with. Nita had been ridiculed, bullied, and was almost always hurt. But no one dared to bully Seto Kaiba.

He was a loner, and was proud of it. He was a teenage tyrant that needed no one.

He didn't even look up as she approached, as if she was hardly more than a fly or an ant and definitely not worthy of his attention.

Nita hesitated, feeling her insides twist. She had to sit _somewhere— _but everyone else was strangers! At least she knew this guy's _name_.

"Girl, what do you want?" His cold voice said, breaking her thoughts.

"It's Nita." Nita said. "Remember me?— I watched your duel yesterday."

Seto raised an brow, mocking. "Along with the rest of the world? That duel was on air."

"Oh." Nita said, slumping her shoulders. By "air" she guessed he meant TV. She shifted the books in her arms, her grip slackening. She found that she hardly care, and so she turned heal, preparing to walk away. "Then you probably won't remember—"

"You're one of Yugi's friends." Seto interrupted with a sigh, clearly irritant. "You participating in the breaking of my elevator yesterday. You are from America, your last name is Callahan, you haven't dueled in your life, you came here with Christopher Rodriguez, and you clearly hate or is envious of Mazaki... Anzu, that is, to you." He snickered cooly. "Well, who _doesn't_?"

Nita blinked, astounded. "Uh. . ."

In response to her surprise he shrugged. "I'm an observant person; I know things." He frowned, "But I don't need you here. Go pray to the Heart of the Cards or whatever you freaks do. Just get away from me!"

"And why would I want to be near the likes of you?" Nita said defensively. She stepped back, but then noticed the screen on Seto's computer. She froze and pointed at the screen. "I can do that."

There was a twisted binary code flickering on the screen. The font was tight and small, and the letters weren't in Japanese but in Roman script along with the typical international system of numbers.

Seto shrugged, wishing the girl just would go away. "Encoding binary is simplistic if you have the proper knowledge." He clicked on something and the binary filled the entire screen. "But I will admit that I am rather surprised that such a girl as yourself would know how to decipher these codes."

Nita blinked. "Well, my sister is the best person on the computer ever. I guess that it must've rubbed off..."

"I'm sure that you are exaggerating. I bet that runt of your sister can't compete with _me_."

_Talk about having one hell of an ego,_ Nita thought. _I'm sure she would beat you. Or at least she could have at the peak of her powers, right now she's not performing so swell... though it might be something close, even these days, when she's in her "know-it-all" mood..._

"'_That Runt'_ sure as hell can." Nita bristled. "She practically _is_ a computer."

Seto inclined his head to show that he wasn't listening.

Nita stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do.

She glanced back at her old table, and saw that Kit and Joey were still at their messy food games and Ryou and Yugi were still talking in their low voices, glancing nervously around. She didn't want to go back to sit there. . .

Nita dropped her books opposite Seto and slid into the seat across him. It suddenly felt like she was attempting to conquer Ronan all over again. The kind of guy that was very hot but cold.

Kaiba stopped typing, his fingers hovering uncertainly over the keyboard. For an instant he seemed shocked that she dare sit next to him, then he bristled.

"Girl, I don't know what you're thinking, but just go away. I don't want or need you here."

Nita hesitated. "I'm not called 'girl'— it's 'Nita.'"

"Nita." Seto said. "Go lick the Dark Magician's ass over at Yugi's table. Do whatever you geeks do, just get _away_ from me!"

Nita didn't budge. "I want to help you." She said persistently. "—with the binary." She pointed at the screen.

"I don't need your help. Fuck off!"

"No." Nita said simply, standing up. She leaned over the table for a better view of the laptop screen.

Seto was losing his patience, fast. She could see it draining like a ocean with a plug. "Girl . . ."

"It's _NITA_." Nita yanked the computer towards her and started typing in the complex codes. "There." Nita said, pushing it back across the table only seconds later. For once, she glad that she had bothered listening to Dairine about hacking into such systems.

"Finished."

"What?" Seto asked, his anger turning inwards into surprise. "You can't have decoded it that fast!"

Nita blushed. "Oh, but I could have! And I _did_." She cycled thought the windows and showed him the hot keys and switches she had clicked to short-circut the Matrix-like falling data that was called binary.

"You don't have to do it _manually— _all I did was make it automatic, instead-- and sort the pre-made groups in sections-- until they all fit." She said, switched through the various shortcuts as she spoke.

"It's more foolproof the other way." Seto snapped, but it was obvious that he was angry that he hadn't thought of what Nita had done.

Nita twisted around to look over his shoulder. "Yeah, and now click there."

"I _know _how to use a computer." Seto snarled, pushing her away. He felt anger pressing on the edges of his mind, for he was ashamed and astounded that he had been stood up and impressed by a scrawny American chick who wore a too-short skirt and had an exceedingly large mouth.

Nita wouldn't leave. "I wasn't _doubting _you and your esteemed knowedge! Do not take offense, whatever you do!" She spoke sarcastically, almost laughing.

Seto stood up, suddenly towering over her. "Nita-- get away, you insolent brat! Go irritate someone else!" He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away.

He hadn't meant to hurt her, but Nita collided with the other table painfully-- it's corner bit into her side where pain quickly blossomed, aching in a sharp way that would surely bruise. She winced but rounded on him, furious.

"I'm not just—" She said ferociously. "—not just some stupid little brat! You can't just boss me around and tell me what to do like that-- and actually _expect _me to do _anything_--"

Seto grabbed the fist that was about to slam into his stomach and twisted it backwards.

"Ahh--!" Nita gasped in pain and shrieked, "Let me go!" She kicked and twisted and he let go.

Nita flung herself back and panted for a few seconds, expecting help, expecting Kit to see and come to save her, expecting teachers to dash forward-- but none did. She realized that things were different here, and that she would have to be strong.

_If he does that again— I'll send him to the darkest Nowhere in outer space!_ She stood up, trembling.

He _hurt _me! Though it was only to stop _me _from hitting him... but _still_! The jerk...

To her complete surprise, Seto grinned. He had been expecting her to run away like all the other worthless girls, not come back for a challenge-- and he was smiling!

_What's funny?_ She demanded in thought, grasping the back of a chair under her clenched knuckles.

Seto was actually smirking. "So you're a fighter." He said. "Usually any of Yugi's friends are weak and dumb. All the females in his little group are brainless and pathetically weak. _Shizuka_-- can't duel for shit, she probably would snuff it without her big brother there for protection. Worthless, pathetic. And _Anzu_, totally obsessed with friendship and dumb things like that. She is terribly spineless, though at least she _acts _like she has a purpose--even though, of course, she hasn't one.. All of Yugi's little friends are that way--"

Nita stared at him, but didn't speak. She kept her lips shut tight, for she didn't trust herself.

"Your anger—" Seto said. "Is refreshing."

Nita froze. Someone had said those words to her only months ago. The Lone Power. (1)

She closed her eyes and reached for her magical senses. If anything was out of order, (specifically she wanted to see if he was being overshadowed or not), she'd be able to tell. Nita didn't bother to perform an actual spell, but she could feel with her sharpened wizardly senses. She felt the person in front of her with her powers.

Across the room, Kit, Ryou, and Yugi, looked up. They couldn't tell what or who the magical powers now shooting through the air were coming from, but it was alive and humming throughout the large room.

Nita's magical senses rushed forward. Seto Kaiba. Inside, he was strong and caring, deep within him she felt love. It was very hard to penetrate, but if somehow someone were to reach that region of his soul, his love for them would be a eternal binding that would be totally indestructible--

But no matter what, he wasn't exactly angelic or innocent. He was darkened and hardened by time, causing his actions to be heartless and his manner cold. He could easily have been a pawn of the Lone One, as he was filled with so much hatred, but as Nita probed deeper she realized that his cold and deliberate ways were his and his alone. There was no way to influence this mind, it was far too stubborn. This mind would have been extraordinarily hard for even a Power to control! —And there were secrets. Nita felt them, but also felt that their master too didn't know them. How could that be? It was as if he had lived another life and didn't even know his own past and memories—

Seto Kaiba felt the probing in his mind. The last time someone had been attempting to read his mind was when Pegasus had the Sennen Eye. It wasn't a very aware feeling, but it was as if someone was shuffling through his thoughts. Seto cut the feeling away without giving it a thought, in the process he was deliberately stopping whatever was happening.

Nita felt herself being pushed away. She was slammed into an invisible wall— she fell back into her body, exhausted and still shaking. _Huh? How had a mortal human, obviously lacking wizardry, done that!?_

"So you're one of those girls with a mouth?" Seto asked, as if nothing at all had happened.

Nita looked up, and now that she was fully back in her body, she remembered the slight pain in her right arm and her tiredness. Nita collapsed in the nearest chair.

"That's. . ." Nita said. "That's what my old... boyfriend said to me. He, too, wasn't from America. He also claimed to like my temper, since I wasn't one of the sissy little girls who cried all the time that he was used to... until it _ruined _him."

She snickered at the memory of a certain 'soggy beer mat.' Ronan had never officially been her boyfriend, but it was easiest said that way to a stranger. She would never ever speak like that in front of Kit, or even to herself. Ronan had actually come to see her again recently, but as Nita let him into her house she realized that their relationship, or whatever it had been, was over. It had never even been official of course, and he was as hot as ever, but the flame had dwindled down to a little spark. He was now just a good friend, that he cared about. But that was it; nothing more than a friend.. Like Kit.

Nita frowned at that. _Kit_? She wasn't even sure that he was _just_ a friend anymore. They _had _to be past the point of _"just friends_" by now. . . she _loved _him. . . but--

"What exactly did you do?" Seto said, but he didn't sound interested. At least he was talking to her._That_ something to be beyond proud of. An actual conversation.

Nita snickered. "I . . . er . . . spilled his drink in his lap in a crowded pub."

Seto raised his brows. "That's all?"

"Well, I'd count that pretty bad." Nita said lamely. "It was very shameful for him. Besides, what have you done _worse _to some of your girls?"

"I don't date." Seto said curtly. "But I've ruined peoples lives. Sometimes as ridiculous as a spilled drinks doesn't even come close to that."

Nita didn't know what to say to. _Ruined lives?_ Was that something to _brag_ about, and the simple careless way he'd said it. . . And how could Seto _not_ have a girlfriend? She blushed after thinking that... well, he _was_ a very tall, handsome, rich, teenager!

"So is Kit over there—" Seto waved at the boy who was still stuffing his face with Joey, as if Seto thought they were a lowly plebeians that was not worthy of respect-- and at the moment, as they ate like mangy dogs, it did indeed seem like they were, "—Your present boyfriend?"

"No." Nita said quickly, then winced. It felt weird, saying so. She had sizzled with jealousy when Kit had been checking Anzu out, and he _hadn't noticed. _Nita didn't want to admit it, but she hated when he looked like that at other girls. Nita clearly liked Kit, and he clearly either didn't notice or care.

But then again, Nita had been checking out Seto, (she shot him a quick flushed glance) as she had once with Ronan, and Kit had noticed, yes, but he hadn't lost his temper or truthfully cared. Her feelings for him just weren't being returned.

Or were they? Maybe. . . maybe he was just afraid to show them. It was possible, right?

"_--We're just really good friends," _said Nita._  
_

Seto nodded. "So you've been through hard times together, leaving you close but not intimate."

Nita blinked. That has been exactly what she was about to say, those perhaps with different words— but how the hell had he known her feelings so well?

Seto Kaiba wasn't looking at her. He seemed to think that she was too boring for further inquiry and turned back to his computer.

Nita watched him for a second, still unsure of what to do. Then she realized that she didn't have to be. She was already sitting— next to him, and he wasn't pushing her away.

Nita tried to make conversation. "My ex-boyfriend, he was kind of like you actually." She muttered, "I mean, he was sixteen at the time, he had dark hair and a twisted sense of humor." She paused. "Presently, it seems as if you have no sense of humor but of course you do. Everyone does!" She spoke amiably, in a humored tone. But the response she got wasn't exactly amusing.

Seto didn't respond, or even look up.

Nita sat there a moment, rather irritated. She hated being ignored, even though she had become well used to it because she hadn't had many friends growing up. At high school it all changed, and suddenly Nita found that she had many more friends, not even including Kit.

"Ronan's sense of humor was twisted and very wry, slightly sarcastic. I can't see yours, but I'm guessing that it it would be that way too. . . you don't seem to be the person that's easily amused anyway. . ."

No response.

"Uh. . . so what class do you have next? What one did you have before lunch?"

Ignoring people and refusing to face them was definitely a good way to anger them. And giving them the the complete silent-treatment worked just as well. Seto Kaiba was doing them both.

"Uh. . ." Nita had realized that she wasn't going to get a response. She knew he could hear her, but chose not to.

Nita sat there for about three seconds when decided she couldn't stand it. _I'll get my arms twisted backwards again if I have to— but not matter what, I am _not _leaving this table until I get a response from this stubborn jackass!_

"Answer me!" Nita reached over and smacked down the cover of the laptop. It fell forward on Seto's fingers (which were quickly pulled away) and clicked shut.

Nita flinched and jumped back. _Foolish_! She warned herself. Kaiba was going to be so angry— he'd kill her, probably— and help entropy destroy the universe.

But when she looked up, her own eyes wide with nerve and fear, she saw mocking.

"Well, so I guess I had you underestimated." Seto said, sarcastically. "You are quite the feisty little thing. I'm not used to girl's with such attitude, so please forgive my behavior."

Nita blanched, startled. "Uh— you knew I'd do that? I mean— you knew I'd lose my temper and do something stupid and rash like that?"

Seto eyed her through his cool blue assessing gaze. "If you had been either Shizuka or Anzu, you would have given up and wandered away. If you were Isis, you would have said something knowledgeable, something was supposed to leave me aching with regret from my actions, and then left. But if you were like Mai Kujaku, the famed Harpy's Lady duelist, you would have lost your temper. Which you did."

Nita blinked. She had no idea who any of those people had been, with the exception of Anzu.

"It seems as if our smart-mouthed American is speechless for once. That will help the world recover from your latest outburst." Seto said, smirking. He returned to his computer.

Heat flushed to Nita's face. "Speechless?" She said, her tone haughty. "I--"

"See? Exactly what I mean. Every sentence I say makes your fury grow—"

_"Fury? _I'm not even angry! You should see me when when I actually _am _angry!— In the meantime, it'd do you some good to shut you—"

Seto suddenly grabbed her fists, (which were clenched), and uncurled them. Nita's muscles relaxed; she had flinched at his touch.

"Calm _down_. We're not _actually _arguing."

Nita's newly-composed calm evaporated in a mere flicker of a second.

"You were _baiting_ me?" Nita steamed. "As _if_ I'd calm down_ now!_—"

Seto grabbed her middle and pushed her back into the chair, sighing. "Shut up already."

"_You_—"

"I said shut up!"

_"So what? _I dont give a damn about what you say—"

"I'll give you money. I'm a multi-billionaire— name anything!"

Nita blinked and for a moment didn't speak. "What? You'll give me a million dollars to _shut up and leave your table?"_

"Yes, as a matter a fact—" He slipped something into her hand. "Take that."

Nita didn't bother looking at it, whatever it was. "But—"

"I gave it to you— It's worth _more _than money— now keep your side of the deal and shove off!"

Nita fell backwards, bewildered. "But I never even agreed—"

_"Go away!"_

Nita stumbled back to Yugi's table. She sat down in an uncoordinated way on the bench— hitting it much harder than she'd anticipated and cracking her tailbone.

Nita such in her breath sharply and resisted rubbing her butt, especially after noticing the fact that the boys were looking at her in confusion.

"Are you OK?" Ryou asked hesitantly, having seen her wince.

"Is something wrong?" Yugi said urgently, in a caring voice. He looked concerned.

Nita sighed and rubbed as low on her lower-back as would look decent. "I'm perfectly fine." She said in am unusually high voice, turning away from them.

The boys shrugged, but down the table Kit was frowning. He could sense the confusion clouding Nita's mind. She was all muddled, as if something had gone wrong.

_Are you alright? _Kit asked in her mind.

_What?_ Nita blinked, sounding preoccupied.

_You aren't acting normal. What's up?_

_I was? I mean, I was acting weird? —No, I wasn't._

He could sense her confusion again. He also felt a weird pain in her arms, whatever that was_. . . No, you definitely were. And as a matter of fact, you still are._

_I am not._ Nita said indignantly_. I'm fine, don't worry._ He could feel her hesitate. _Will you bug off now? I want to be alone. I hate sharing my mind, so will you please get out of my head?_

That itself was odd. Nita usually didn't mind sharing her thoughts and emotions. She rather enjoyed it; it helped her better understand the confusing muddle that was her mind.

_Sure thing,_ Kit tried not to let his own confusion show. _Fine, talk to you later. And not in your mind if it bothers you!_

Kit wondered if he should stay in her mind for a few more moments to see if he could find out was was wrong, spy on her thoughts, but decided against it when he realized that Joey was talking to him.

Ryou shifted uneasily in his seat a few feet away. He could sense something, like always. The Ring was burning against his bare chest under his t-shirt and blue coat. It wasn't actually burying itself in his chest, but it was still searing his flesh. This was what happened when he talked to his Yami, or when Yugi talked to the Pharaoh, but it's power was emanating from two bodies instead of one. Nita and Kit.

Yugi, sitting across from Ryou, noticed the white-haired boy's reaction.

Yugi's Item didn't specialize in the area of sensing Other magics, but he could feel the wizardry in the air too. But since the Puzzle didn't work too well on locating sources of certain powers, he didn't notice in coming from Nita and Kit. /_ Maybe it's Ryou and the Ring. . . /_

_/ I'm note sure... /_ His Yami muttered. /_ How about you ask the Thief if you're curious. /_

_/ I've told you a million times! Ryou is not a Thief!_— / Yugi insisted. _/He's just a reincarnate of one! So don't call him that. /_

_/ He's just as good as his Yami. If my old pal Thief King Bakura-- /_

Yugi could hear the underlying throughs of _that damn bitch_.

_/ -- if Bakura's host and reincarnation isn't the scumbag that Yami no Bakura he himself is, then I destroyed Egypt. /_

_/ For all we know. . . you _may _have. /_ Yugi winced.

/_ Shut up. /_ His dark side snapped irritably._ / Don't say things like that! I saved Egypt from a horrible darkness. /_

Yugi couldn't help it; he was slightly agitated at the Pharaoh for not cooperating and giving him a better response. /_ You probably saved it from as Shadow monster that _you_ conjured in the first_ _place. /_ (2)

Yugi felt his Yami's anger and quickly shut the link before the retaliation. "Ryou?" He asked aloud, though still quietly. "Was that you? Did you just do something with Shadow Magic or something?"

Ryou sent him a sharp glance. "You felt it?"

Yugi nodded.

Ryou looked away. If Yugi didn't know, he wasn't going to tell him. "My Item specializes in this area. I can sense that it was nothing, so don't worry." This way he didn't answer the Yugi's question, and officially ended the subject too.

Yugi frowned but Ryou was already back to examining a new booster pack and exclaiming at the absurd pricing for the pack. . . "I can't believe a booster pack doesn't even contain a single four-star monster would be so much money! It's pathetic! I could buy three packs with six star monsters only last year from the same store! Pricing is going up and up! By next year. . ."

Nita, who has just been listening to Ryou because Kit had just left her mind, didn't hear what about "next year." She felt Kit cut the mind-link and went back to sitting by herself. She was very confused, bewildered, and lost feeling. And she didn't know why.

_Being alone will help. . ._ Nita was sure of it. She needed time to think about the things at hand.

The Powers That Be had sent Nita and Kit here for a reason. . . one that Nita was lost for. She wished for once they'd specify those reasons and tell her why they were here, and what they had to do, but to her own surprise she didn't care half as much as she should have.

There were more urgent matters to think about. . . more pressing and concerning ones. . . more important ones.

_More important than the Powers?_ Nita asked herself, startled. But there was no point in denying it. She was beyond desperate that she had been turned down— Nita's insides twisted— turned down!

_It's Seto Kaiba._ . . She realized_. I have _feelings_ for him! This is all wrong! _

Nita twisted around and saw him typing at his laptop across the room. He sat there, his fingers flowing, as if she meant nothing to him. People around them were talking— voices echoed across the great cafeteria— their voices—

Nita shook her head, trying to clear her mind. But the feelings were there! And she couldn't stop them!

Nita sat there for another moment then remembered that he had given her something. It was still curled in her fist, now cutting sharply into her palm.

_It's probably just a few dollars or yen. . . he's so pathetic, giving me _money _just to get me to leave him _alone_. . . you could earn enough money to live decently by merely bugging a millionaire instead of working . . . _Nita uncurled her fist slowly, unwinding each finger in it's own turn.

But she was holding a card. A Duel Monsters card.

————————

Be here next chapter! Thanks for reading. Review and make my day!

A/Ns:

1) : The Lone One didn't say those exact words, but in Wizards Holiday Esemili _did _say how she found Nita's anger and attitude refreshing from all the constant happiness on Alaalu.

2) I can't help but correct Yugi when he said "you may be the one who had destroyed Egypt." Pharaoh Atem's dad. the ex-Pharaoh Akumkanon and his brother, Priest Akunadin, (actually is Priest Seto's dad, though he doesn't know this at first), originally created Millennium Items, from which the ultimate darkness is first created. (But it was Bakura that unleashed the dark power called the "Zork Necrofear" upon Egypt for revenge.) They just don't know that yet, since they are presently going off what Dartz said in the stupid Doma filler saga.


End file.
